A few things have been going through my mind recently: Football, Leadership and Performance Management. While these three topics sound disjointed, hang on for the ride – there is a touchdown at the end of this!

As economic cycles go, the last 18 months have been a time of change for any company doing business with the federal government. Budgets have been cut across the board, and it often feels like the government is trying to get the same services for a fraction of the cost. For those of us working in Talent Acquisition or Human Resources, the pressure to do more with less has never been more tremendous.

In any organization, there is one thing that is guaranteed, there will be change. If an organization wants to stay current, relevant, then change is inevitable. It is crucial for organizations to be able to adapt and grow.

You have made the excellent decision to invest in management or leadership training for your company. You are excited about the potential for change and ready to see improvement in your workforce. As you are making a substantial investment in your people, make sure you set up your team for success to make the training effective.

Article originally published in SHRM Online on October 23, 2014.

I get asked a lot by my clients to help them plan for the future. As an HR Business Partner at Helios HR, my job is to work with senior management teams to plan for the unexpected. To help them continuously move their human capital forward successfully. Sometimes, these organizations that want to plan for the future just want to mitigate their risk of an employee leaving the organization. So this got me thinking, what is the true difference between succession planning versus replacement planning?